Good Day Gents,
We've had some very cold days in Alaska and generally the M3 is fine in below freezing temps. One day we had -15°f (-26°c) in the morning and by afternoon, it had dropped to -20°f (-28°c). My car is parked in a heated garage over night, but sits outside at work. On both my commute into work and on the way home I experienced overheating, when normally it does not overheat. The cooling system is 100% factory and was 100% replaced from the fan at the front to the heater core over the last 4 years.
On both occasions when the needle moved to the right dot I began monitoring it closely, and when moved passed the right dot, I parked the car at a the nearest gas station. I would shut the car down and go inside for 5 minutes, then come back out and within 10 seconds of starting the car again, the temperature was stable and no longer overheating. On both occasions I'd driven about 10 miles before it overheated, then drove another 10-15 miles home with no issues. Both times I popped the hood at the gas station and the upper radiator hose was very taught, like it was under pressure. There was no signs of coolant leaking from anywhere when doing a Quick Look in the frigid cold. In the morning, after the car sat all night I checked the coolant level and it was appropriate.
Since that very cold day, the car has ran fine, never moving past centerline.
At this point, my best guesses are that a line or a part of the system was frozen somewhere and when the car sat, enough heatsoak allowed the frozen bit to melt. My other thought is that the coolant is somehow boiling and the steam in the system is hitting the sensor causing a hot reading; once it has a few minutes to cool, it doesn't turn into steam again.
Has anybody experienced similar problems or have any idea on how such cold temperatures triggers a hot coolant system?
We've had some very cold days in Alaska and generally the M3 is fine in below freezing temps. One day we had -15°f (-26°c) in the morning and by afternoon, it had dropped to -20°f (-28°c). My car is parked in a heated garage over night, but sits outside at work. On both my commute into work and on the way home I experienced overheating, when normally it does not overheat. The cooling system is 100% factory and was 100% replaced from the fan at the front to the heater core over the last 4 years.
On both occasions when the needle moved to the right dot I began monitoring it closely, and when moved passed the right dot, I parked the car at a the nearest gas station. I would shut the car down and go inside for 5 minutes, then come back out and within 10 seconds of starting the car again, the temperature was stable and no longer overheating. On both occasions I'd driven about 10 miles before it overheated, then drove another 10-15 miles home with no issues. Both times I popped the hood at the gas station and the upper radiator hose was very taught, like it was under pressure. There was no signs of coolant leaking from anywhere when doing a Quick Look in the frigid cold. In the morning, after the car sat all night I checked the coolant level and it was appropriate.
Since that very cold day, the car has ran fine, never moving past centerline.
At this point, my best guesses are that a line or a part of the system was frozen somewhere and when the car sat, enough heatsoak allowed the frozen bit to melt. My other thought is that the coolant is somehow boiling and the steam in the system is hitting the sensor causing a hot reading; once it has a few minutes to cool, it doesn't turn into steam again.
Has anybody experienced similar problems or have any idea on how such cold temperatures triggers a hot coolant system?
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